Here is the 7th chapter of My Angel… I hope you enjoy!
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XxDarkxX
When I woke up, I noticed the sun had not quite risen. When I looked around I only saw Navi, Link was nowhere to be found, "Hey Navi? Where's Link?" Navi, who was zoning out, shrieked then floated in the air. "Dark! You're up! Don't scare me like that," She scolded playfully. I shrugged not really apologetic, she continued, "And Link went to check up on Epona. He wants to see if you can both ride her, or if you'll have to walk."
"Ride her?" I thought, "I"m guessing it's not a person then." Navi giggled at the confused look on my face, she then turned around and went to another strange carved rock. "Hey Dark! Come over here for a second!" She zoomed quickly over to me, then back to the rock. I got up and walked over, only to see it had some strange carvings on it. She quickly turned to me, "Can you shoot a bow?" I was confused by the question, but I nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty simple after all. I can't shoot very small targets, but if that's not an issue, what do you need?"
"Great! I need you to grab Link's bow and shoot for the sun!" She zoomed over to Link's satchel. "Wait.. What?! How do you expect me to shoot the sun?!" I yelled, it seemed confusion was gonna be a constant emotion for me. Navi giggle again, "I don't need you to actually hit it, just shoot towards it while standing on that platform." I sifted through the pack until I found what I was looking for, walking back I asked, "Why do I need to do this?"
"Well, the platform that you're standing on says "When water fills the lake, shoot for the morning light. So I was just curious as to what it would do." She says nonchalantly, I just settled for a glare in her direction. When the sun had completely peaked the horizon I drew the string back, aiming for the general direction of the round object. Having a well enough aim, I released the arrow. Not seeing anything happen, I turned to go put the bow back. "Oooohhh!" Navi exclaimed, I whirled around quickly. The arrow I shot was now stalled in mid air, it glowed red on the end as if the sun made it catch fire, then slowly floated down onto a strip of land below it. Navi and I both stared a second longer before looking at each other, before she could say anything, I was already taking off my boots, hat and outer tunic.
The water temperature was cold, but nothing I couldn't handle after having lived in it for years, and, even after having been forced to live there, I still found water to be a comforting presence. I didn't want to linger, however, and quickly made my way to where the arrow landed. I grabbed it, carefully held it over my head not letting it touch the water, and swam back over to Navi.
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XxLinkxX
I had probably spent too much time with Epona, I couldn't help it though. She was one of my first friends and we didn't need words to communicate. She seemed to know my mood and responded accordingly. The past half hour the only thing I had managed to accomplish was brushing her hair to a shine, I communicated to her with my every stroke. Doing this helped me to relax after every temple and if I happened to make her extra shiny to impress someone? Only the two of us knew.
After stroking her nose for a minute, I moved to put her packs back on. With the addition of Dark, I knew I would probably be walking to Lon Lon Ranch. Epona was strong, but she wasn't big enough for the both of us to ride. Patting Epona's neck one more time, I made my way back to the center island. When I got there I saw Dark was drenched and both he and Navi were hunched over something. I walked closer and noticed that Dark was holding onto an arrow, confused I put my hand on his shoulder. I startled him also scaring Navi, "Oh! Hi Link! I didn't realize you were back! Look at what Dark and I found," Navi flew around the arrow Dark held up.
When I looked closer at it I noticed that the arrowhead looked like it was on fire. Hand signing to Navi, who translated aloud for Dark's benefit, "Is it some kind of fire arrow? If so who shot it? Dark?" "Yes! For all the questions and if you want to know how we got it.. Look over here!" Navi answered and then circled some kind of stone platform. I walked over to it and read what it said, walking back over to the fire arrow I looked at the properties within, unknowingly getting close to Dark's face, who blushed and backed away. I nodded to myself, once I got the spell components memorized.
I signaled to Navi to tell Dark it was time to pack up and move along, I put the arrow in my quiver and put my shield and sword onto my back. When I turned and saw that Dark was ready to go, I started walking to the main shore. When we reached it I signaled Dark to wait there and took out my ocarina. Playing Epona's song, I smiled when she ran into the area, she started trotting over to me and then paused when she saw Dark. I walked over to where Dark was, grabbed his hand and held it out for her to sniff at. Shaking her head in approval she walked closer to where we were and head butted him, making Dark laugh in amazement. While Dark and Epona were getting to know each other I packed all my non essentials onto Epona's back.
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XxDarkxx
"Hahaha! So you're Epona huh? I can see why one would be able to ride you! You're so big, and so pretty." I looked over to Link, when I saw him move closer. I frowned when he gestured for me to get on the horse though. "What? You want me to get on the horse? Will we both fit though?" I looked at Epona's back and saw barely enough room for one person.
Navi translated for Link, "You're gonna ride while I walk, I'm letting you ride because I don't think that you're fit enough to walk as far as it will take. It will take half the day to walk and we will not be stopping until we reach Lon Lon Ranch. Also you did faint the day before yesterday so I'm worried about your health." I felt very insulted at that, and I spoke with anger in my voice "Excuse me! It's not like I sat on my ass all day waiting for you! I had to keep myself busy somehow! I ran around the perimeter of my room, and exercised. I practiced my swordsmanship and threw daggers!" At the last bit both Link and Navi looked curious. " I made myself as strong as possible and when I was exhausted beyond belief I whittled.." I stopped realizing the last bit had nothing to do with anything.
"What's whittling?" Navi asked. "Oh, I take pieces of wood and carve something out of them." I said scratching the back of my head. "Can I see?" Navi asked flying closer I noticed Link did the same. I dug around in my pouch until I grabbed the couple I had kept giving them to Link. "Wow! These are so good, Dark! This one looks exactly like the Hylian Shield, and this one looks just like the Master sword!" Link nodded along with Navi, I grabbed the carvings back when they were done, and said "Nah. They aren't as good as I would like them to be. If possible I eventually want to get some paints and color them. You should have seen them when I first started out." I laughed humorously until I noticed Link gesturing to Epona's back again. Opening my mouth to start actually yelling, I was interrupted by Navi, "Don't worry Dark. He's not asking you to ride again, just to put stuff you won't need to fight onto her back."
"Oh." I felt a little abashed but did as told, when I saw Link signal to Navi and they both laughed. "What?" I said feeling left out. "Oh, Link just says that you're gonna regret not taking that ride in a couple hours." I took that as a challenge and was determined to keep pace with them. A couple of hours later and almost at our destination, I would never admit Link was right.
We came to a huge wall and started slowing down, thinking we were almost at.. Lon Lon Ranch? She called it. I studied the surrounding area more closely. It took a couple of minutes to get around the wall, to an opening where I saw a well used road lead inside. Epona whinnied and ran inside, seeming very familiar with the place and a saw Link give a small smile as well. When we got inside I saw a couple different buildings and heard a lot of different sounds. Looking to my left I saw a yellow building that looked to have two stories, turning my head to the right I saw some kind of tall sign, with a gate of sorts beyond it. Inside the gate I could see different colors of horses running around. To my right was a brown building that looked to have been made of trees tied together, that when I got slightly closer had some kind of strong smell attached to it.
As I was trying to see if I knew what the smell was, a person came out of the door. It was a female with Orange hair, a yellow kerchief, a white shirt, a long brown apron and a purple skirt. She looked really tired and gave a big sigh when she came out, when she looked up and saw us however, she gave a big smile and ran over to Link, not seeming to notice me, "Fairy boy! You're back! Just the person I needed to see!" I stood to the side awkwardly while the three of them talked. I started shuffling from side to side, when Link pointed to me and the girl noticed me for the first time.
She walked over to me and started talking, "Hmm…. So you're Dark huh? It doesn't suit you, I'm gonna call you, Shadow instead." She decided by herself, "Hey! You can't just decide that by yourself," I said, "Also you haven't even introduced yourself!" She looked shocked and then started laughing, "You speak! And here I was thinking you would be a mute like Link. Also my name is Malon! My father Talon and I run Lon Lon Ranch. We breed horses, cows and chickens. Navi told me that you were stuck in a room for 7 years or so.. Poor thing! You must be starving! Come in you two, lunch is just about ready!" She walked into the building on the left and left the door open for the two of us.
Walking in I saw a bunch of white feathery creatures that clucked. I stared at one of them for a moment and then poked it. "Uh Dark… I wouldn't do that if I were you." Navi said. "What? Why?" I asked, still continuing to poke it. It gave a big yell of sorts and then all the other white creatures did the same, "Dark. I would run now." The creatures started swarming me and pecking me with their beaks, so I did as told and ran like my ass was on fire. I'm sure I looked ridiculous just running around in a circle but it was the only thing I could do. "Dark! Go through the door and shut it as fast as you can! Link will get you when they have calmed down!" I heard Navi shout through the rustling of feathers and over the sound of my screams.
I did as she said and ran through the front door, I closed it behind me and held on, I felt multiple thumps from the door as the creatures ran into it. I sighed, thinking I had barely escaped death, and thought about the devil creatures. "They were so calm before. I wonder why they did that. " I thought while resolving to never mess with them again. A few minutes later I heard the door open, looking quickly and getting ready to run, I saw it was just Link and relaxed. Well I was relaxed, until I saw a big smile on Link's face, I glared at him and stomped my way inside.
Seeing that the devil creatures were calm again, I avoided them and got to the highest space, which happened to be a flight of stairs. Navi was giggling and flew over to me, "Don't worry Dark. You should have seen what happened to Link when he messed with the chickens! He had scratches for weeks!" Link came over and grabbed Navi, smothering her giggles. "The devil creatures are called chickens?" I thought, "That doesn't fit them. I'm just gonna call them devil creatures." Link walked into the door that was next to us and gestured for me to follow him.
Walking into the room, while never turning my back on the devils, I smelled something delicious, which got my stomach growling. Seeing a table laden with food, I took a seat and waited for permission to start eating. Seeing the others start to do so, I filled up my plate with delicious food. I tried to be as polite as possible, but I almost devoured all that was on my plate. Looking at the food, I wanted to get more but I wasn't sure if I could. "Go ahead, Shadow! If we can't eat all this food now it's just going to waste," Malon said seeing the look on my face. I nodded my thanks to her and ate until I was full.
I heard Malon speak to Link but I didn't really pay attention to the words, as I was in a sleepy state, "I'm glad you came when you did, fairy boy, I need you to do me a favor. A horse walked into my ranch a few weeks ago, he was starving and really dirty. I cleaned him up and have been getting him back to health, but he refuses to go near the other horses. He also barely tolerates my touch, and doesn't let me ride him. So I was hoping that you could work your magic like you did with Epona." I saw Link get up and put his empty plate into the sink and did the same. Malon did as well and then led Link outside the house and into the building opposite. Not wanting to be left behind I followed to see what they were up too.
Navi settled into my hat being sleepy herself, when we got inside the building I saw some big, black and white animals, I reached over to pet one when it made a strange sound. Jerking back I half expected them to do what the devil creatures did. "Hehe! Those are cows silly. They don't do much, but if you play a song they like, they'll give you milk. Milk rejuvenates you, so it's a good thing to have," Navi mumbled. "Oh," I said reaching out to pet it's nose. Malon and Link were at the far end of the stable so I went over to them. Looking over Malon's head I saw what they were looking at, it was a horse. It was a bit taller than Epona, and was a different color as well. He seemed to be a light brown color on most of his body, with a dark grey mane and tail, with pure white on the bottom half of his legs and the front of his face.
"I"ve named him, Forbes, cause he's so stubborn. I was hoping he would take to you," Malon spoke to Link. I saw him try to approach the horse, who watched him warily. When Link reached out a hand to try to pet the horse, Forbes shook his head and stepped away from Link. Sighing he walked a little bit aways, Link made a come hither motion to Malon, and Navi followed as well. I heard a conversation behind me, but couldn't hear what they said. I was still staring at the horse, who was staring right back. I looked back really quick, and seeing the three deep in conversation, I stepped closer to Forbes.
Reaching my hand out like Link had done, I let the horse sniff me. Seeming content with what he smelled, he stepped closer and head butted me. I scratched his chin, then stroked his neck. When he started sniffing my hair, I couldn't help but to laugh, not hearing any more conversation I looked behind me, to see all three just staring at me in shock. "What?" I said, when I turned my back as Forbes had stolen my hat. "Hey! Give that back you silly horse!" I laughed reaching for my hat. I heard Malon speak right behind me, "I can't believe Forbes is being so playful. I've never seen him like this." She reached out her hand to pet the horse, but Forbes stomped his foot at her.
She sighed and then turned to me, "Hey Shadow! How would you like your very own horse? I'll give you the tack and saddle too!" I didn't know what to say so I just stared at her confused. Navi answered for me though, "Link says that it would be a good thing to have a horse, as it would make traveling around a lot faster, and you could pack more with the horse." "That settles it! Shadow, Forbes is officially your horse now! If you don't know how to ride and take care of horses, Link and I can show you!" Malon said. I was in shock so just slowly nodded, Malon seemed pleased by my answer and went to the back of the building, when she came back she was holding something big, and a blanket underneath it.
"This was the saddle I had made for Forbes, but I don't know if it's the right size cause he never let me put it on him," Malon handed me the saddle, not knowing what to do with I just looked between her and the horse. A little while later saw the five of us outside with me on top of Forbes, learning how to ride, luckily for me Forbes was really gentle and patient, and that I was a fast learner. An hour before sunset, I was considered a great rider, and had cleared Malon's obstacle course on the 4th try.
"Ok! It's almost time for dinner, I'll go get it ready and Link can show you how to groom him by way of Epona." She yelled and headed into the house. I watched Link ride over on Epona and gestured for me to follow him into the stables. Link demonstrated how to brush the horse and oil the saddle, watching me do the same he gave tips here and there. I had just finished when I heard some kind of clanging, startled I looked to Navi for some kind of explanation. She giggled and explained that, that was the sound of the food bell. I was excited at the prospect of food and ran to the house.
After dinner I helped Malon with the dishes, and then she showed us to the baths and then our room. "Well have a good night boys! I'll see you in the morning," She yawned and then walked away shutting the door. "Dark?" I heard Navi say, "Link wants to talk to you." I finished taking off both of my shirts and my hat then walked over to him. I saw a pink tint to Link's cheeks but thought he was just hot like I was. "I'm assuming you are gonna keep traveling with us?" I nodded, "Well then, tomorrow I want to start heading to the next temple. It's somewhere in Kakariko Village, so it will only take an hour or so on horseback. We don't know what will happen so be prepared for anything." Link stopped signing and turned around. I assumed he was done so walked back to my bed, "Dark?" I heard Link actually speak as Navi already fell asleep, turning around to hear better, "Are you gonna sleep like that?" He gestured to my bare chest.
"Yeah. It's hot." I said, shrugging my shoulders, I saw him get into bed and turn away from me. "Whatever," I thought. I got into bed and pushed the blankets down to my feet. Getting comfortable, I slowly fell asleep.
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So what do you think?
Forbes means stubborn and I thought that fit, and Dark needed a horse so I made one up! Also in case you were wondering what it looked like I based it off a champagne colored Gypsy Vanner.
See you next Chapter!